It Was 30 Years Ago Today

Today's history lesson - 8 things that happened in baseball in 1981.

1. The Major League Baseball Players Association went on strike for nearly two months in the middle of the season, cancelling 713 games. Attendance dropped in 17 MLB cities after the players went back to work in August.
2. As a result of the strike, MLB held its first split-season since 1892. The first place teams at the time of the strike would play the teams in each division with the best record in games played after play resumed (or a wild card team if the same team won both halves).
3. The Montreal Expos made their one and only playoff appearance, beating the Phillies in the Division Series, then losing to the Dodgers in the NLCS.
4. Rookies of the Year: Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers in the NL and Dave Righetti of the Yankees in the AL. Fernando was also the NL Cy Young Award winner.
5. Rube Foster, Bob Gibson and Johnny Mize were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
6. The Phillies Mike Schmidt won the NL MVP. Rollie Fingers of the Brewers won both the MVP and the Cy Young Award in the American League.
7. The Red Sox finished in fifth place in the first half of the season and in second place in the second half. Dwight Evans led the team in home runs with 22, while Carney Lansford hit .336, leading the team. Mike Torrez paced the pitching staff with 10 wins. Four future Hall of Famers played on the 1981 Red Sox: Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Perez, Dennis Eckersley and Jim Rice.
8. The Dodgers won the World Series for the first time since 1965, beating the Yankees in six games.
9. Tim Raines played his first full season and stole 71 bases in 88 games.
10. The Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox played the longest game in baseball history, going 33 innings before the Pawsox won 3-2 at McCoy Stadium.